Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December 8th (ISBN 0312363508)

Wrong Title:
The Book should be titled -- Pearl Harbor; What if the Japs Launched Three Waves of Attack Aircraft? Some, probably many, readers and reviewers (published elsewhere and touting the book) are not familiar with the details of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and do not understand that the third and most damaging Jap aircraft attack described in the book is an intentional creation of the authors' imagination. The authors are also far to kind to Admiral Yamamoto's reputation. (I am expecting the authors to name a USN aircraft carrier after him in their next book in the series.) It is difficult to sort the fact from the fiction in this novel. The technical notes or prologue would be a good place to explain. Otherwise, well written, and should be helpful to high school and college students falling asleep during US History class as the instructor drones on and on. (I used the derogatory term Jap. The term was commonly used during WW II and many years thereafter and is still used by WW II Vets and the Chinese today; When Japan apologizes for their brutaility in China and Southeast Asia during WW II I'll consider my reducation.)

Very nice read:
I'm a big Newt fan...he's a smart, educated former teacher who knows his stuff. The editor of this book should be taken to task, however, as there were many errors throughout. Even the cover material. But I still recommend it to all who lived through Pearl Harbor and who live in Hawaii. My grandfather served on the USS Napa during WWII, and that's the subject of Navy vet Arvy Geurin's Walking Through Fire, An Iwo Jima Survivor's Remembrance

Pearl Harbor:
I was dissapointed. Although I knew it was fiction, I did not expect history to be rewritten as it was in this book. The destruction as result of the "third" wave was, to me, a re-write of history not necessary and will cause confusion for readers who don't know things happened as written. The author's name on the book will sell many copies, but I'm betting most readers will feel as I do. Sorry 'bout that.

Gingrich is improving as an author:
I was hesitant to give a Newt "written" book another try after his first WWII book "1945". However, I was pleasantly surprised with this novel. It was a fast paced easy read. The size of the book and the easy text make it a good book to pick up and complete on the same airline flight.

A plodding attempt at a novel:
The historical research is obviously thorough, but that is all that lifts this book above a one-star rating for me. The characters (who miraculously appear at every interesting point in history...) are wooden and function primarily as talking heads to teach us history and poli sci. The writing is at best yeomanlike and at worst heavy and repetitive. The editor was apparently as asleep as the radar operators on Oahu because he/she missed needless repetitions, transpositions of character names, and typos.